How to Get Out of Debt With the Get Out of Debt Guy » scams

The BBB Warns Of Possible E-Book Scams

Amanda Miller — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 13:00:01 +0000

According to the American Association of Publishers e-book sales are growing exponentially. Between the months of January and August of 2011 e-book sales increased 144.4 percent to $649.2 million. In February the sale of e-books actually overcrowded the sale of paperback books.

Since e-books are expected to be a popular holiday gift item the Better Business Bureau (BBB) has naturally put out a warning for consumers.

As always, when something grows in popularity so grows the possibility of scams piggy-backing on the success of said item. The BBB warns of:

“E-books filled with useless and often badly written information sold for a couple of dollars. Malware is sometimes attached in order to obtain your credit card information.
A single book is given different editorial spins and then sold under different titles or authors’ names.
Material that is plagiarized from websites and blogs then packaged into an e-book and sold.

Writing competitions with the winner having his or her work published digitally. Although the contests include entry fees, the cost to publish digitally is minimal.
E-readers spammed with ad-laden works and hotlinks to both commercial and malware sites that load viruses onto your machine.
E-book purchases and sales used to build up credentials for bogus sellers and buyers on auction sites

To avoid e-book scams, the BBB advises:

Stick with authors you already know or those who have an established reputation.
If you decide to buy from an unfamiliar author, see if you can download a free sample (Amazon lets you do this) first to test the quality.
Don’t be taken in by great reviews that accompany cheap e-books. They may be genuine or the writers may have been paid to produce them.
Do a search on the book name or author to see what other people say or how many other books they supposedly have written.
Don’t click on links inside an e-book unless it’s by an established, reputable author. Even then, it’s advisable to visit their websites via your Internet browser rather than using the link.
If you believe you’ve been scammed, seek a refund. You should also register your complaint with the seller’s customer service department. And, if all else fails, do other readers a favor by writing an honest review of the book – Source.”

What are your thoughts on the matter, do you think we’ll see a spike in e-book scams?

If you have been scammed and would like to file a scam report, please click here.

A Debt Collector Keeps Calling Me From 212-500-0839 And Says I’ll Be Arrested. – Lavern

Steve Rhode — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 18:37:14 +0000

From How to Get Out of Debt

“Dear Steve,

What should I do if a collection company won’t give me their address? The guy that called was Jeff Parker (212) 500-0839.

The message he left was that there were papers filed under my SS# at the New York City court and I needed to contact them right away. He first told me that he was from a Law Firm (Logan Harris). The second message was that he was a Sr. Officer at the NY City court.

When I called the Court, they told me they never heard of that person. Also, there was no Attorney licensed to pratice by that name. The court placed me on hold and called them. They told the Court that they didn’t tell me anything like that, but I have it on my voice mail.

I’m not sure what kind of debt they are trying to collect. What really made me angry is that they misrepresented themselves.

Lavern”

The Answer:

Dear Lavern,

It’s a scam.

See Frightening Calls From Fake Debt Collectors Threaten People With Jail for Payday Loans. It’s a Scam.

So I had fun calling them. They certainly sound like they are trying hard to scare you with an Indian accent. Bureau of Criminal Identification. LOL I asked for Jeff Parker and they said they’d route my call to Jeff Popkins it sounded like.

Recorded Call With Scam Debt Collector

And if your name is Dave Roberts, I apologize, it was the best fake name I could makeup on the spot. And if you listen carefully you’ll here the stupid fake collector say he found my file for Dave Parker. Dude, Parker is the name of the fake collector that called.

The call ends abruptly, they hung up on me.

Lavern my dear, just block them from your phone and go live your life in peace and joy.

Update March 26, 2010

Here is a video someone taped that got one of these phony debt collector calls. The audio is a little rough in the beginning. And the person calling really doesn’t represent a group called Cooper Law Firm. It’s a scam.

Big Hug!

@GetOutOfDebtGuy

If you have a credit or debt question you’d like to ask just use the online form. I’m happy to help you totally for free.

Frightening Calls From Fake Debt Collectors Threaten People With Jail for Payday Loans. It’s a Scam.

Steve Rhode — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 01:15:18 +0000

From How to Get Out of Debt

Phantom phony debt collectors with Indian accents are calling people trying to scare them into paying debts that are not theirs. Some of the company names they use are American Credit Services, TAC Evolution, Allied Financial Services, CashNetUSA, Sonic Bank, Sonic CashNet, CashLand, and Cash America. If you know of others, please add them in the comments section below.

The fake debt collectors call and say you will be arrested and thrown in jail unless you send money immediately. The amounts claimed seem to be $400 or $1,095 and a smattering in between. The calls most often arrive on a Friday when all government office are closed so you can’t check out their story. The callers use the names of real attorneys they found on the internet.

The goal of the scam is to scare the person getting the call into sending money via Western Union or MoneyGram or to give up their bank details to hit your bank account, in order to prevent the police from coming to arrest you in the next few hours.

If you want to listen t what these calls sound like, click here.

Apparently there are a number of telephone numbers tied to this scammer that I believe is calling from a call center in India via voice over IP, (VOIP). So the callers really are not even in the United States although they pretend to be.

Armed with the contact information the scammers in India call make outbound calls on a VOIP telephone line and forge any outgoing phone ID they want. It’s not hard to do. (By the way, if you want to unmask any blocked number and find out who is calling, try Trapcall.) They might even use a number from a block of VOIP numbers they’ve rented to receive return calls. After a short period of time they dump the number and start using a new number.

I found at least one of the numbers listed as being used by these scammers was issued by LES.net, a VOIP service provider.

The known numbers tied into this scam are:

213-221-1002
213-286-0210
213-286-2016
213-550-4189
213-995-3046
310-362-4305
310-362-4319
310-362-9386
313-332-1091
343-729-0397
407-506-0424
408-317-0831
408-355-9951
415-223-4108
415-880-5599
496-900-0000
619-342-0094
714-333-2945
714-333-2951
714-400-0563
714-409-0208
714-409-0250
714-845-0766 (FAX)
718-831-7157
818-936-4699
904-425-9141
941-961-8518
949-743-1049
973-200-6686

Most of the people who have been called in this scam seem to have previously had a payday loan from some company. What I suspect has happened is that one of these payday loan companies used an outsourced call center in India and someone from that call center sold the names of the customers or contacts.

The BBC did an undercover report a couple of years ago and showed how easy it is to buy this type of information from call centers in India.

The names of the Payday loan providers seem to be just a smoke screen. The scammers use both the name of a real payday loan outfit and sometimes a real attorney to make the receiver of the call think it is legit if they check it our on the web. It’s all a lie.

So I had fun calling them. They certainly sound like they are trying hard to scare you with an Indian accent. Bureau of Criminal Identification. LOL I asked for Jeff Parker and they said they’d route my call to Jeff Popkins it sounded like.

Recorded Call With Scam Debt Collector

And if your name is Dave Roberts, I apologize, it was the best fake name I could makeup on the spot. And if you listen carefully you’ll here the stupid fake collector say he found my file for Dave Parker. Dude, Parker is the name of the fake collector that called.

The call ends abruptly, they hung up on me. LOL. What idiots.

From A Debt Collector Keeps Calling Me From 212-500-0839 And Says I’ll Be Arrested. – Lavern

@GetOutOfDebtGuy

How to Avoid Being Scammed by a Foreclosure Rescue Promise or Plan

Steve Rhode — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 19:35:21 +0000

From How to Get Out of Debt

Foreclosures are increasing nationwide, and so are scams that promise to “rescue” homeowners from foreclosure. What these scams do is take your money, ruin your credit record, and wipe out any equity you have in your home.

Foreclosure con artists take advantage of people who have fallen behind on their mortgages and face foreclosure. Con artists know that people in these situations are vulnerable and likely to be desperate. Potential victims are easy to find: mortgage lenders publish notices before foreclosing on homes. After reading such notices, con artists approach their targets in person, by mail, over the telephone, or by e-mail. They advertise their services on Web sites or publications. They often refer to themselves with titles that sound official, such as “foreclosure consultant” or “mortgage consultant,” and market themselves as a “foreclosure service” or “foreclosure rescue agency.”
Your mortgage lender – or any legitimate financial counselor – can help you find real options to avoid foreclosure. If someone offers to negotiate with your lender and offers to arrange to stop or delay foreclosure for a fee, carefully check his or her credentials, reputation, and experience. To protect yourself, follow the recommendations contained in this Consumer Advisory.

WATCH OUT FOR FORECLOSURE RESCUE SCAMS

Lease-Back or Repurchase Scams – Be very suspicious if someone offers to pay your mortgage and rent your home back to you. This scheme often involves signing the deed to your home over to the con artist. The con artist may promise to sell your home back to you, but this may be very difficult, if not impossible, under the terms of the contract.
Signing over the deed gives the con artist the power to evict you, raise your rent, sell the house, or steal the equity you have in your home. You will still be responsible for your mortgage, so if the con artist stops paying it, your lender would have the right to foreclose on your home, and the foreclosure and any other problems would go on your credit record.
Refinance Fraud – Look out for people posing as mortgage brokers or lenders and offering to refinance your loan so you can afford the payments. Con artists may trick you into signing over the ownership of your home by saying that you are signing documents for a new loan.
Signing over the deed to your home exposes you to the dangers described above. Even if you are a victim of fraud, you could still lose your home.
Bankruptcy Schemes – Several scams attempt to abuse the bankruptcy laws. For example, a con artist may ask you to give a partial interest in your home to one or more persons. Each holder of a partial interest can then file bankruptcy, one after another. The bankruptcy court will issue a “stay” order each time to stop foreclosure temporarily. However, the stay does not excuse you from making payments or from repaying the full amount of your loan. In another kind of scam, a con artist may offer to obtain refinancing or negotiate a payment plan with your lender. If you may make payments to the con artist, he or she may keep the money rather than pay the lender on your behalf. The con artist may even file a bankruptcy case in your name, without your knowledge, as a part of the scam.
Bankruptcy laws provide important protections to consumers. Scams can only temporarily delay foreclosure, and they may keep you from using bankruptcy laws legitimately to address your financial problems. Signing over ownership of your home, or even partial ownership, can result in serious financial harm.

HOW TO PROTECT YOURSELF FROM SCAMS

Know what you are signing. Read and understand every document you sign. If a document is too complex, seek advice from a lawyer or an approved, trusted financial counselor. Never sign documents with blank spaces that can be filled in later. Never sign a document that contains errors or false statements, even if someone promises to correct them later.
Get promises in writing. Oral promises and agreements relating to your home are usually not legally binding. Protect your rights with a written document or contract signed by the person making the promise. Keep copies of all contracts you sign.
Make your mortgage payments directly to your lender or the mortgage servicer. Do not trust anyone else to make mortgage payments for you.
Be very careful about signing over your deed. Foreclosure scams often require you to sign over ownership of your home to a con artist or another third party. Never sign over your deed without getting the advice of your own lawyer, financial advisor, or other independent person that you know you can trust. Understand the terms of the deal you are making. By signing over your deed, you lose your rights to your home and any equity built up in the home.
Report suspicious activity to the Federal Trade Commission and to your state and local consumer protection agencies. Reporting con artists and suspicious schemes helps prevent others from becoming victims.

HOW TO FIND LEGITIMATE HELP FOR YOUR FINANCIAL PROBLEMS

Contact your mortgage lender or mortgage servicer as soon as you think you are unable to make your mortgage payment. Lenders are often in the best position to help, especially if you are current on your loan or not seriously late on your payments. Your mortgage lender or mortgage servicer may be able to identify options to help you bring the loan current or to modify your loan. You can find a listing of HUD sponsored housing counselors here.

How to Get Out of Debt With the Get Out of Debt Guy » scams

The BBB Warns Of Possible E-Book Scams

Other Related Articles to Read

A Debt Collector Keeps Calling Me From 212-500-0839 And Says I’ll Be Arrested. – Lavern

The Answer:

Update March 26, 2010

Other Related Articles to Read

Frightening Calls From Fake Debt Collectors Threaten People With Jail for Payday Loans. It’s a Scam.

Other Related Articles to Read

How to Avoid Being Scammed by a Foreclosure Rescue Promise or Plan

Other Related Articles to Read